Blood Is Thicker Than Water
by tall oaks
Summary: Lupin took a grip on Black's robe. "I think I have an idea who might just help us."
1. Chapter 1

The Fight

Lily Potter trembled in outrage. Their words had spiralled out of control, and into a fully fledged argument.

"You know I'm right," James Potter said with infuriating, supercilious condescension. He added these faults when he leaned one hip against the kitchen counter and crossed his arms with a, 'this is the law', finality over his chest.

She pulled her apron off and slammed it down on the floury table, where moments earlier she'd been rolling scones upon. The flour clouded the immediate area in a white.

_He can be insufferable at times_, she thought.

"I forbid you to go to—," Potter said firmly.

"You? Forbid me? I don't think so James."

Her husband James had already made the penultimate mistake, and she hoped he wouldn't step over that line.

"She's only your stupid sister," the wizard said with growing heat.

"Don't you dare speak of my sister in such a dismissive...," The fiery haired woman fairly trembled in anger; her temper was legendary.

"Do you mean the very sister who turned her back on you? She only came to our wedding—and I don't know why you wanted her there—because your mother forced her to come. She knows you are a million times better than she could ever hope to be."

Lily Potter stood frozen in place.

"Pet's," James spoke the name scathingly, "didn't even acknowledge our Harry's birth. And she sent the gift you sent on our behalf for her slug of a son's birth."

Before she realized it, her hand lashed out and struck her husband squarely across the face.

Her husband's hand involuntarily rose to his cheek in shock.

Lily knew, from her days as a Hogwarts student, that witches and wizards would, most often, use their wand to settle disputes. To have someone physically strike someone who'd grown up in the wizarding world was a huge shock.

"What'd you do that for?" he asked stupidly.

"Youaresuchabastard!" Lily cried out, stung by his words.

"Do you honestly believe your horse-faced Muggle sister would want to see you?"

Lily exploded. "Don't talk about my sister like that! You are such a... Oh, my God! I don't believe what I am hearing. I thought I knew you," Lily cried in disbelief.

James Potter had crossed that invisible line.

"I am going to see my sister."

The wizard's hand mussed his hair in his agitation; it was something that had, once upon a time, endeared James to Lily. She'd thought back then, that it illustrated he was a regular guy.

Pulling out her wand, she waved it sharply, summoning a small bag to the kitchen table. Following it was a jumper, a pair of jeans, a blouse, and a nightdress. The items neatly folded themselves into the waiting container. Her toothbrush, comb, and brush swiftly dropped into the open bag.

"You'd just leave Harry here alone?" James asked incredulously as he watched his usually compliant wife pack.

"I won't be leaving him here alone because Harry has two parents," the witch said in a no-nonsense tone. "Contrary to your belief; the other Aurors can get by without you."

"I don't know how to take care of a baby," he muttered in bewilderment.

"You've always said how easy I have it just staying home all day. Well, welcome to the club, boyo. Perhaps this will teach you that being a mother it isn't as easy as you think," Lily said with a raised eyebrow.

"Dumbledore would never approve of this," he stated firmly.

Lily's mouth open and closed several times. "I think Albus Dumbledore would be horridly disappointed if I turned my back on family."

The witch put her jacket on over her blouse, and buttoned it shut. She picked up the container holding her clothes. With a loud crack; Lily Potter Disapparated, leaving a shocked husband standing alone in the small warm kitchen, unquestionably wondering just what had happened.


	2. Chapter 2

The Promise

A distressed Lily Potter looked down at her sister and with a determined expression said, "I'm going to take care of you. Remember how you used to watch over for me? Well, now it's my turn. I'll pack up Harry and come to stay with you as long as you need or want me.

"Dudley and Harry will get along splendidly. Your son will have someone to play with; and mine will certainly enjoy someone other than me to have fun with. I'm afraid my skills at block building are rather pathetic.

"You're probably thinking: 'Doesn't James play with him?' Well, like most men he always says how much time he spends with Harry, but that is a lot of crap-trap. Maybe he sees him for an hour in the evening—if that much. And he thinks I have it so easy—just staying at home, cleaning, doing laundry, and shopping. Wizards, well all men really, fail to understand raising a child is a fulltime occupation. If my husband had to pay someone to do what I do, he'd be a pauper, Tuney.

"Was—is Vernon better than James?"

_Idiot_, Lily cursed herself. She couldn't bear the idea of having to tell her sister that Vernon had been killed. He'd been Petunia's first and only love.

The witch looked at the unresponsive face. Tiny lines shadowed the corners of around her sister's eyes and mouth.

"'Member how Mum used to say, 'If you frown too much, you'll get lines,'" the younger sister mimicked their mother's voice. A small sad smile was on the witch's lips as she leaned across the bed, and kissed her sister's brow. Petunia smelled of the delicate violet soap she had always loved.

"You used to spend your pocket money on that soap from—was it Caswell and Massey?" she asked, while her hand gently rubbed her sister's wrist methodically. "I'll pick up a cake when next I come."

Petunia made no reply; she was still. Lily sighed deeply.

"I'm going down to see Dudley for you. I'll tell him how _very_ much you love him, Tuney. You have to try to get better for your son; a little boy needs his mother."

The witch gently replaced her sister's hand on the bed, and adjusted the blanket over her. She leaned over to kiss Petunia's cheek, and slowly backed from the cubical.

With some trepidation, Lily strode to the children's ward. A kindly nurse told the witch that she could take her nephew home tomorrow as she led her to Dudley's cot.

"Your aunt has come to visit you, young man," the nurse said with a cheerful smile.

A large bandage was wrapped about one of the child's arms. Vivid bruises stood out on a round face. There wasn't much of Petunia in his appearance. Small eyes, much like Vernon's piggish ones, stared suspiciously up at her.  
Bringing all her reserves to the forefront; Lily smiled warmly at the young toddler.

"No Arge!" Dudley declared with a frown on his small round face.

_He certainly takes after his father_.

"I'm Aunt Lily, your Mum's sister."

The nurse left Lily alone with Dudley.

"Daddy say fweek."

_Well, leave it to Vernon to prejudice the mind of a child_, Lily thought bitterly.

"Do I look like a freak?"

"No mummy dwess," the boy prevaricated." The young boy studied her intently.

Lily chuckled. "I wear dresses sometimes. Usually I wear jeans; they're practical."

"Jeans for bad boys," Dudley said definitively as he scratched at his bandaged arm.

"They're really good for playing in the dirt, and they have lots of pockets to put stuff in," she replied easily.

Dudley looked intently at Lily's jeans. "What in your pocket?" he asked curiously.

Laughing, Lily reached in and began to pull out something. It was red metal. It had wheels. A two foot long fire engine emerged from the jeans pocket.

"Oh!" the boy exclaimed, his eyes growing large. He was definitely impressed.

"Would you like to have this?" she asked casually as she placed the toy in the child's reaching hands.

"Like magic!" Dudley said beaming a huge smile, as he drove the truck over the hill he made with his knees.

"Your Mum told me to give this to you." Lily leaned over and kissed the top of the boy's head. He squirmed and continued to roll the truck over the counterpane, making 'vroom' noises as he played.

"I think you're alright with me," she said to herself with some satisfaction. "I'm taking you back home tomorrow. The nurse is signalling that I should go now. See you tomorrow."

Dudley was too caught up with the fire engine to reply.


	3. Chapter 3

_Sorry about the previous chapter reposting; I must learn to delete earlier versions from my computer. _

London Transort

Having spent the night in her sister's house, the following morning Lily Potter stamped her feet as the cold damp worked its way through her trainers. She waited at the curb for five minutes until a large red bus rolled around the bend in the street.

_Not quite the Night Bus! Wouldn't everyone here be shocked to see it roll up?_

The doors on the bus opened and revealed a man with long white hair and beard. He was wearing half-moon glasses and long robes. One or two people on the bus shook their heads in bewilderment at the sight of such an oddly dressed, obviously elderly man.

"That was fun!" the old man said.

"Professor Dumbledore!" the witch exclaimed in surprise.

"We have come to speak with you," he said stepping off the bus.

"We?"

James Potter stepped from the bus with smug glint in his eyes as he brushed back his unruly hair.

She pushed past her husband to step onto the bus, irritated that he'd brought someone else into business that concerned only them.

_He's always does that; it's as if he needs someone to backup him up all the time!_

"You should have rung me before coming, James. I need to be with my sister and her son," she said over her shoulder.

Sitting down she found her mind roiling. Why were James' quirks beginning to irritate her so much? She used to find them so endearing, so innocent. Now all those little things felt—strategically planned to manipulate those around him, and it really irritated her.

Ten minutes later she asked the nurse how her sister was progressing.

"Mrs. Dursley continues to be unresponsive."

"Will that change?" Lily asked as she clenched her hands.

Looking grim the nurse replied, "You just missed the doctor. He performed a diagnostic of her responses and ordered some changes in medications. Brain function is—well, I'm afraid hope is fading that Mrs. Dursley will make a viable recovery."

Lily gnawed at her lip; it was something she'd done since childhood. She fought back tears of frustration at how unfair life was.

"I deeply appreciate the honesty of your assessment. Do you know if Mr. Dursley's sister been contacted?"

"I was told that someone went around yesterday afternoon; she wouldn't hear the poor man out. The hospital administration decided that our vicar should try to speak with her," the nurse said diplomatically as she walked Lily down the corridor. "She gave him barely more courtesy than the constable. She was in the midst of feeding her dogs and couldn't speak with him."

"She isn't the most gracious person at the best of times," Lily said quietly as they stood outside of Tuney's room.

"Would you like to sit with your sister for a while?"

"I would like that very much."

Lily leaned over the hospital bed and kissed Tuney on the cheek. The floral scent was less strong. Violets seemed like a metaphor of her sister's life—as the delicate scent faded away so did Petunia.

"Tuney, I wish I could make you better, but I can't even for you. Because using that sort of magic would lead me on the road to perdition," Lily said thickly in a rush.

_It would be so easy to demand they keep you alive on a machine even if your brain is dead and all function ceases. But I have too much respect for God to make you remain here, an empty husk, just because I am afraid to lose you. It would be selfish of me, it would be wrong._

_It isn't defeatist to admit Tuney won't live much longer; it's being realistic_, she told herself_. _

It was her job was to see that her sister was comfortable and cared for in the time she had left. Lily stroked Tuney's arm lovingly.

"You have my oath that Dudley will be taken care of. He'll know you loved him—that you didn't want to leave him. I'll tell you were a good person, a loving mother, daughter, and sister. He'll know what you were like when we were kids—how much you liked to ride the merry-go-round. And how much you laughed! He'll know that you made _the_ very best clotted cream fudge.

"I'll take him to where we'd swing—in that little play yard—the place I first found out I was different—that I was a witch. I'm so sorry that you weren't one, too. I think that put a wall between us, and cheated us of each other.

"I knew you were angry when you thought you'd lost me. I didn't know how to tell you that you hadn't. You thought I didn't need you, but that isn't true; I really needed my big sister.

"You blamed Sev for showing me what I was—something you weren't. I am sorry for that. But he didn't make me a witch, Tuney. I had no more choice in it than you had not being one," Lily said softly. She played with Petunia's fingers.

"Both of us have come a long way from those days, haven't we? Each of us is married. We both have sons. If you only knew how much I have hoped our boys to know one another. Our lives have not been quite what we'd hoped nor wanted, have they?

"I'm not ashamed to tell you I'm mad as Hell at the unfairness of life. If only there was a blueprint—a plan. Maybe there is and I just can't figure it out, Tuney," Lily said in a thick voice. "I'm going to call Vernon's sister; she should know that you are here, and Dudley is alright."

_By God, she's going to listen to me_, Lily thought determinedly.


	4. Chapter 4

_Where do you think this is going? Thanks for reading!_

A Phone Call

Lily opened the cover of Tuney's address book. Her green eyes looked down the series of tabs.

_I don't even know if his sister is married. What was her name? Mary, Midge, Maleficent?_

"Start at one end and move forward," she said to herself with a steady voice.

Her fingers slid to _Z_ and stopped and then moved forward through the alphabet until she found the name and number she'd been looking for.

_Still a Dursley, _the witch mused as she used her index finger to dial the telephone. _Ooh, I forgot how it feels to dial one of these._

"Is this six-two-four-seven?" she asked when the line was answered.

"Who is this?" the returning voice demanded.

"My name is Lily Potter; I'm Petunia's sister."

"Oh yes, Petunia's freaky sister with the unemployed living on the dole husband," the bellowing voice replied in one long run on sentence.

_You can probably hear her in Wales,_ the witch thought as she moved the receiver out from her ear.

"The police tried to notify you that...," Lily began before being interrupted brusquely.

"Some bumptious person _claiming _to be from the Constabulary gave me some nonsense about Vernon being dead. I gave him a piece of my mind, and shut the door on him."

"The hospital's vicar came to see you. He tried to tell you what happened," The witch found herself twisting the cord on the receiver as her frustration built.

"I was feeding my dogs; nothing interrupts feeding the dogs!"

"Your brother, my sister, and our nephew were involved in an automobile accident. You should be here!" Lily cried incredulous at her sister-in-laws utter disregard for the seriousness of the situation.

"Listen here you—you _freak_. Don't tell me what I should do!"

"Your _idiot_ of a brother drove recklessly and crashed his car. He seriously injured _my_ sister and _our _nephew, and killed himself. If you had any decency you'd come to the hospital," the witch said sharply and slammed the phone into its cradle.

_She should have been named Midge; she's as annoying as the insect. When she shows her fat face at the hospital she is going to see the business end of my wand! Cow!_

Fuming, Lily stormed through the house to Dudley's bedroom. The fact that a small child occupied the room calmed her nerves. Soon reason triumphed, and after taking a deep breath, she opened a drawer with neatly folded shirts and trousers. The next drawer held socks and underpants. Carefully she removed items to dress Dudley would need when she brought him home from hospital. She placed the mangled Rupert bear the toy with the clothes to take to him.

_It'll reassure him some things are the same._

Lily sat on the small toy chest and hugged Rupert close to her chest. Burying her nose into the toy, she inhaled the scent of childhood. A tear rolled down her cheek.

A click sounded from the entry door and soft voices drifted through the place. Alerted she drew her wand and hid behind the bedroom door. Lily's heart beat a tattoo in her chest.

"I'm telling you, she gets a real head of steam..."

_James?_

"We are noticed," warned another familiar voice said softly.

_Dumbledore?_

Lily stepped out into the parlour; the bear clutched tightly in her arms and her wand still held defensively in her right hand.

"Ah, Lily!" Professor Dumbledore said as he eyed the wand. "You said we could see you later."

"I don't suppose you thought of ringing me first?" she asked James pointedly.

"You know how hopeless I am with tell-a-phones," he slowly phonetically spoke the word.

"I'm finding that there are a great many things you're helpless at," Lily said asperity. "Who's watching Harry?"

"Molly Weasley. Harry is having a great time playing with her kids; there's one boy that's even Harry's age," James said enthusiastically.

The witch drew her lower lip in and nodded her head. "Harry likes being with another kids and Dudley will be just another one to play with."

"But he's a Muggle!"

"Dudley's a little boy who needs family around him!" She pulled at her long red hair in frustration.

"He has Dursley's sister," James pointed out in what he obviously thought was a well reasoned argument. "She has dogs; Muggle children are supposed to love dogs."

"You thought Miss Dursley and her dogs were ill-mannered and vicious. You really think it would be okay to have Dudley live there?"

"He's not one of us."

Lily turned to her old headmaster. "My nephew _is_ part of my family. He is a little boy who has lost his father and he'll probably l-lose his mother—my sister. I cannot in good conscience leave him with a woman who cares more about her dogs than him."

James grew red faced and mussed his hair in confusion.

"I think we should sit down, have a nice soothing cup of hot chocolate, and allow tempers to cool down a little," Professor Dumbledore said calmly as he inserted himself some into the heated discussion.

"T-that sounds reasonable," her husband said slowly.

Albus Dumbledore began to wave his wand when Lily halted him. "Headmaster, if you don't object. Right now I find it comforting to do it the Muggle way."

Looking about the space with curiosity, the old wizard began humming to himself, closely watching as Lily opening the refrigerator door. His bright blue eyes followed as she found a saucepan and poured milk into it; and then smiled when she took a match and lighted a burner. The old wizard stood beside her and watched as she stirred the milk with a wooden spoon.

"If you would, there are cups in the door just to your left," she said trying to contain her emotions.

"This is cosy, isn't it?" the professor commented as he placed the mugs on the counter. "Muggles are the most extraordinary of creatures, just think of what they must do to get by."

"They don't know there is magic, so they don't have much of a choice," Lily replied as she spooned cocoa powder into the cups. "I am a mix of both worlds. To turn my back on my Muggle roots would be a betrayal of who I am as a witch."

"Do you really think it is a wise to take in a Muggle boy? You know how difficult life a Squibs life is in the magical world. Aren't you concerned how Dudley will feel being unable to fully experience our world?" Dumbledore asked.

"Of course I worry about that, but I have no choice," Lily replied with a quivering lip.

"You're set on taking in your sister's child?"

"Y-yes," Lily said through her tears. "Tuney would do the same for me. Sure, she'd be afraid he'd be like me, but she would take him. Vernon would probably have made life a living Hell for Harry. S-still my sister would have—would have taken him in no matter what her husband would say."

James walked quietly into the kitchen and wrapped his arms about his wife.

"Sweetie, the boy—"

"Dudley, his name is Dudley, James," Lily said tiredly.

"He will be increasingly out of place if he grows up in the wizard world. How do you think he'll feel to be ostracized—thought of as less than a Squib?" her husband asked.

Lily passed the mugs around.

"I know it may sound cruel, but you must face the facts. He will be better off with Mug—his own kind," James amended his words seeing the fire in his wife's eyes.

"I truly believed you were better than this," the young woman said in growing exasperation. "My eyes have been opened; you do put people into little boxes of: pure-blood, half-blood, Muggle, and Squib."

"You have to think of what is best for our own son first. Miss Dursley might, just might, make life easier for your nephew," Dumbledore said sadly. "I just think Dudley will find growing up in our world very, very frustrating."

The witch chewed on her lip thoughtfully. She knew that her emotions were running hot.

"I just need time to sort things out," Lily replied tiredly. "I have to be here for Tuney."

"How much longer, Lily?" her husband asked in a whinging tone.

Looking at him with growing impatience, she replied sharply, "As long as it takes, you twit!"

"That was unnecessary! Can't you see it's really hard for me to take care of Harry by myself?" the young wizard cried out.

"I'll fetch Harry in the morning so he won't be a problem for you," Lily snapped.

Dumbledore again inserted himself between the two, "You must allow your wife some time to sort matters out. She will have to decide at some point what is more important to her: the past or the future."

She was stung by her old headmaster's words.

"You see, even Professor Dumbledore thinks you're batty," James said snidely.

"I think you better leave before I hex you," Lily said angrily.

The young wizard's cheeks grew mottled red and his cocoa mug exploded. The brown liquid spilled onto the polished kitchen floor.

"James!" Dumbledore warned sharply. "We will leave you to think things through."

_I've already thought things through. Dudley will not be placed into the hands of that woman!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Thank you for continuing to read this story; I was stunned by the number of readers last week!_

Dissention

Lily Potter Apparated to the village of Godric's Hollow. A smiling James opened the door and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Harry toddled over to his mother on insecure legs, and promptly collapsed on to a well padded bottom. He wrapped his arms tightly around her blue-jean clad legs and pulled himself up. Lily bent down and lifted him into her arms. The toddler gleefully laughed as he grabbed at her ginger hair with strong chubby fingers. She in turn gave him loud kisses on his cheeks, which resulted in more of Harry's bubbly laughter.

"I've been a bit of a prat, Lily. Harry will be much happier with you and his cousin," James said apologetically, as he ran his fingers through his messy black thatch of hair. Behind him a stone-faced Sirius Black leaned against the edge of a table.

Lily shifted the toddler to her hip. She was taken aback by James' tone of reconciliation.

"Frankly I'm surprised by your sudden change of heart." A smile brightened her face.

Sirius shifted restlessly and stared at the floor. His jaw worked furiously.

"I thought long and hard about it. Dust—Dudley," James quickly corrected himself, "really needs a good family to help him right now and it'd be beneficial for Harry too."

Sirius gave a coughing retch. The witch glanced at him questioningly but he was refused to meet her eye.

"You alright?" she asked in concern.

Black shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Padfoot's fine, Lils." James expression hardened as he glared at his best friend.

_Something is going on between those two_...

"Do you need help getting things to your sister's place?" Sirius suddenly asked. "I'd like to see the place my godson will be staying is properly warded."

James eyes flashed dangerously. "Dumbledore and I took care of things."

_What the heck is going on between those two?_ Lily wondered. She'd never heard her husband speak harshly to his best friend. Often she'd wondered if Sirius was a third partner in their marriage; he certainly spent most of his time in their home.

James waved his wand in an arabesque motion. Harry's trunk flew out from his bedroom and landed on the floor beside Lily. With another flourish the trunk shrunk into a more manageable pocket size container.

Lily placed the miniature trunk in the pocket of her jeans jacket. She spared Sirius a curious look and said, "I best be going now."

Sirius cupped Harry's head in his hands; his eyes softened and he swallowed audibly as he looked at the child.

"Oh for God's sake!" James snapped impatiently. "You're behaving like you'll never see him again."

Lily couldn't help but feel the dissention between the two friends. It was beginning to make her uncomfortable—like she was being left out of something important. However, she didn't have the time or the inclination to work out what the controversy was about.

"I need to leave. The hospital is releasing Dudley to me at six, and it will be a long evening settling the boys in," Lily said as she nuzzled Harry's head under her chin.

James nodded affably. "Who'll watch the boys when you visit your sister?"

"A friend of mine."

"A Muggle of course," James tone was that of the long suffering.

"She's not a witch?" Sirius asked with concern.

"Sirius, we'll be perfectly safe. _He'd_ never think to look for us in a Muggle town. Dumbledore set wards, and no one can get through something the professor has set in place!" Lily replied.

Lily kissed James good-by before she stepped out onto the porch, and with a loud _'crack' _Disapparated from Godric's Hollow.

With one hand firmly grasping Dudley and the other holding a squirming Harry, Lily Potter exited a large black cab. Her sister's son was bubbling because he was excited to be home again, while her son was babbling about his first ride in an automobile.

Dudley pulled free and toddled unsteadily to the door.

"Da!" he cried out happily. "Da, door!"

Lily felt her heart drop to the pavement. How was one to help a little boy with the loss of his father? What is the best way to tell him he'd not see his father again? She knew she would need advice from someone who knew about children better than she did.

Who_ do I know that has dealt with grieving children? Mum used to talk about her friends waking up to neighbourhoods flatten during the night... But she said no one really thought about it 'cause it was during the war. _

The blonde boy looked up at his aunt questioningly. "Key?"

Lily pushed the brass object into the lock cylinder and rotated it.

"Da!" Dudley scooted excitedly through the flat.

"Da?" Tuney's son called piteously. His mood had dropped as he looked up at her like a lost lamb. The little tot's face showed its fatigue; Dudley was still a child injured by the auto accident. He needed to sleep in his own bed, in his own house.

_Lord, get me through this..._

"Harry needs to go to bed. He's had a very long day. Do you mind if he shares your room? He's never been here before, and he needs someone big and brave to keep him safe."

Dudley's face transformed with delight. "fwaid?"

"I think just a little bit," Lily said in a sotto tone.

Dudley proudly led the way to his room. Reaching for the lights by standing on his tiptoes; he clicked the light switch on illuminating the room in a wash of amber. Harry screeched his happiness as the incandescent glow filled the room. She placed him on his back on the floor.

"Will you help take Harry's shoes off," Lily asked, "while I get his jim-jams ready?"

The witch watched as her nephew knelt down to untied the sturdy shoes.

"Lit-al feets?" the child stated. "I big feets."

"You had little feet once." Lily smiling replied as she wiggled his foot lovingly.

The young boy nodded his acceptance of her words as fact. His eyes followed his aunt's hands as they took his younger cousin's clothes off. Dudley's mouth opened as a nappy was put on the prone Harry.

"Nappy?" the young Dursley asked curiously.

"Do you want one?" Lily responded with an arched eyebrow.

Dudley put a finger in his mouth and shook his head.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Dudley yawn widely as he fell over on the floor; one arm pillowed his head. Lifting Harry into his cot, Lily drew his little blanket over him. One thumb went into the child's mouth as he closed his eyes.

"You want to put your pyjamas on?" she asked. Lily squatted beside Dudley.

"No," the sleepy child said dully.

His aunt rubbed his shoulder; his breathing became slow and deep.

Lily pulled back the boy's duvet from his bed, and lifted him into his cot. Dudley was asleep when the witch kissed his head.

"That's from your Mummy, who loves you very much. This is from me who loves you, too."

_I really need advice on what to do for Dudley, _Lily thought_. Who do can I ask? Someone from the Order? Madam Pomfrey might be a good person; she has studied children's health needs, but how much does she know of what goes on in their little minds?_

_Do I go to a Muggle... No-no-no, Lily. Don't think of them as something different; we are all basically people with special talents. Oh, Lord, I am confused. No more than Dudley and Harry, you silly woman._

Lily's hand closed the door behind her, just as a knock sounded on the front door. Holding her wand close to one leg, she cautiously approached the door. Standing to one side the witch held her breath. She hadn't expected anyone to visit. Dursley's sister had been less than interested when she'd called to inform her that Dudley was going home.

"Lily?" a voice queried from the other side of the door. "Lily, are you there?"

Cautiously holding her wand at the ready, the witch opened the door.

"Is that really you?" Lily asked in utter amazement and relief.


	6. Chapter 6

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_ September is just around the corner and that means a change of season in a few short weeks. Enjoy today's chapter._

Stunning Allegation

"Yes, it really is me," a round faced woman replied with a smile. She'd made an attempt to look Muggle-like and worn jeans and trainers, but had a green sequined chiffon dress as her blouse cinched in by a wide orange suede fringed belt. One of her hands held a Coleman's Mustard tote, while the other held a deep brown wand.

"May I come in?"

"Oh it is good to see you, Alice. How is Neville?" Lily realized her wand was still pointed at the heart of the small witch. A smile of embarrassment quirked across Lily's face as shoved her wand up into a sleeve harness.

"Good, really good. Sometimes I wonder why we didn't have a child sooner, because motherhood is the most amazing feeling in the world. In fact, we are considering trying for another; but then we worry that what with all that is going on whether we—whether I should morally leave the Aurors understaffed."

Alice walked into the parlour as she unabashedly looked around. One hand reached out and touched the radio, and then skimmed over the items on the table. The witch circled the room before she returned to stand in front of Lily.

"I wanted to offer—that should you need me—please Floo at any time or reason. I'll be here for you.

Lily's friend opened and closed her mouth like a fish gasping for water. Finally she seemed to gain mastery over herself and charged in with determination, "But that's not the only reason I came; I shan't shilly-shally and just get to the point. T-there was a meeting of the Order last night. At the time I didn't think much of you not being there, because of your sister and all."

"No one told me there was a meeting," Lily replied. She was always, always, at Order meetings.

"We were half way down the street when I remembered I'd left my shopping in the hallway outside the meeting room," Alice spoke rapidly. "Frank remained on the street talking with Peter while I returned for it.

"M-may I have some water?" the witch asked nervously as her courage faltered.

Lily guided her friend into the kitchen and pushed her into one of the chairs around the neat wood table. Taking a glass from the cupboard, Lily filled it with tap water.

Alice Longbottom gratefully sipped at the water.

"I was picking up my shopping when I heard Albus, James, and Sirius talking quite urgently—none of it made any sense. But then I heard them speak of you, Harry, and another child. I thought maybe you were expecting again and I blatantly eavesdropped. I wish to God I hadn't," she said bitterly. "There was some talk about how the _other_ child might confuse You Know Who, that he could be used as bait—a sacrifice."

Lily shook her head in disbelief.

"Sirius argued that it was too much a risk for his godson. Albus said it was the only way to safeguard Harry."

"Someone else voice was unfamiliar to me spoke. He sounded quite furious. 'You'll be handing them all over like lambs to the slaughter.' The Floo sounded. I think he must have left in a tizzy.

"And then I heard Sirius snap, 'You see? Even _he_ is against this_._'"

"James would never agree do that," Lily replied angrily.

"That's was has me confused; it just doesn't seem like the James Potter I know.

"Be careful; I've heard He Who Must Not Be Named knows you are on your own. I must leave now. Call me." Squaring her shoulders, Alice rose from the chair. Her cheeks were flushed with emotion. Drawing her wand, the witch opened the door and walked through it.

_Why would she say those things? _Lily wondered, as she shut and locked the door against the world. _She's always been so level-headed._ _I can't imagine why she'd think she heard them say that. It's unreal, its fiction. Maybe Alice was hit with a hex! _

_You know she's damn good at her job; it would take someone unbelievably strong to get through Alice's defences, and I don't know anyone who could. Except..._

_What have I got us into, Harry?_ She asked herself wearily as she rose to answer the ringing telephone.

_What indeed has Lily got herself into_


	7. Chapter 7

_Thank you for your continued readership and support when many of you are back in school and very busy._

Helping Hands

It was the urgent call from the hospital, just as Lily had finished with supper, which prompted a Floo to Alice Longbottom. She'd no doubt that Alice was capable of handling the addition of two children with alacrity.

After dressing the boys in warm woollen clothes, the witch played Border collie as she moved them in the deepening twilight and waved down a large black taxi with a raised hand. The driver nodded knowingly when Lily named the generally unknown lane.

_God bless the London cabbie_, she thought as she kept her son from pulling at the door handle, _he knows the most obscure of locations._

The cab pulled to the curb in front of the door of the Leaky Cauldron. Lily pushed a ten pound note into the driver's hand.

"Your change, ma'am," he said with a smile as he held out a fiver.

"Keep it."

"Any time you need a cab, ask 'em for Arnold Illingsworth." The cabman saluted her and drove off down the street.

Clutching Harry and Dudley's hands as she entered the door to the Leaky Cauldron; Lily pushed through the throng of people in the main room. Witches, wizards, and crones sat at small wood tables with supper and pints of butter beer or glasses of fire whiskey. A pleasant buzz of conversations filled the place.

Lily directed the two curious children to the large fireplace rear of the public house. Her nephew's button bright eyes watched as she threw Floo powder into the opening. His eyes grew still larger when green smoke filled the opening. When he began to pull at her hand eagerly she clasped him more tightly and stepped in with the two children and called out, "Longbottom House!"

As the chimney openings flashed by, Harry remained stoic. The boy wizard had travelled this way many times before. The familiar and comfortable sight of Alice's engaging face finally came into view; beside her stood the unflinching Augusta, the doyen of the Longbottom family.

On her friend's hip was boy about Harry and Dudley's age; he looked at the newcomers with large curious eyes. The boy slid down her hip and toddled over to Harry and Dudley.

"You needn't worry about them." Alice greeted her friend with an awkward hug. "My mother-in-law suggested you come here."

"You don't know how much I appreciate this," Lily exclaimed with a grateful smile to the two witches. "I honestly don't know what I'd have done."

"It's what friend's do for one another, they help one another."

"It's what any decent person would—or should do. I've plenty of room in the old nursery, and a house elf desperate for young ones to tend," Augusta said briskly. "I'm proud of you for standing up for what you believe in, young lady. What a lot of malarkey! Not taking in a child because of what he isn't."

Lily felt tears prickling in her eyes, and she bit at her lip to keep them back.

"Go now," the older witch's voice softened slightly. "You need to be elsewhere now."

Alice hugged her fiercely again. "Harry and Dudley will be safe with Gran."

Lily knelt in front of Dudley and gave him a hug; he pulled at a button on his aunt's cardigan, and looked at her with anxious little eyes. She quickly Disapparated from the house with a loud crack; she preferred not to look back at her sister's little boy.

Lily entered the hospital ward, and pushed back the curtain that enclosed her sister's bed.

Petunia moaned a primal sound.

"Tuney it's me, Lily. Don't you worry; you'll be just fine," she said, hoping her words would bring her sister back to awareness.

_Oh, God!_

"Tuney? Do you need something?" Lily asked in concern. "Are you in pain?"

"Dudley," Petunia whispered with great effort. It was clear that the murmur had cost her a great deal.

"Shhh, he's fine. Dudley's with me and he is a fine little boy."

She took Petunia's hand in hers and squeezed it gently. A tiny smile played on Tuney's lips, then froze like a mask.

Lily jumped when a long steady bleat came from the machines Petunia was connected to. She heard the urgent rush of footsteps approaching her sister's enclosure.

Someone pulled Lily from the curtained area and down the corridor. She sat on a straight backed chair in the waiting room. A ringing in her ears diluted the chaos about her.

She closed her eyes tight and bargained with God. _Please don't take her; I'll do whatever you want, but just don't take Tuney. _

A wracking sob exploded from deep within her; for she knew in her heart that her sister had passed. Lily felt utterly lost and alone. She no longer had someone to share stories with about Mum and Da; there would never be hushed conspiratorial gossip about boys. Nothing would be the same again.

Someone sat beside her, and a hand tentatively patted her shoulder.

"Mrs. Potter?"

Through stinging eyes Lily slowly looked up. There was a man dressed in a dark suit with a liturgical white collar at his neck; it was the vicar from Godric's Hollow.

"W-what are you doing here?" she asked stupidly. "Wizards don't mix with Muggles."

"My dear Mrs. Potter; I felt _compelled_ to be here. It has been my calling these seventy years to be there for any that need me, be they wizard, Squib, or Muggle. God sees and loves us all as his creatures," he murmured with glassy eyes as he sat beside her.

Choking slightly, Lily nodded her head in agreement. "My sister..."

"I have prayed for your sister's soul from the moment your plight came to my notice. May I assist you in some small way? I am quite knowledgeable on the use of a telephone," the vicar stated with pride.

"You've use a telephone before?" she asked with a thick voice. "I didn't think anyone wizard born knew how to use one."

"No," the vicar admitted with a confused smile. "Yet I can see it in clearly in my mind: how to put the coins into the slot, move the dial about with my finger, and speak into the receiver. It's as if I've done it before."

Lily rooted through her handbag and pulled out Tuney's small black book. She began to weep uncontrollably again, and pushed the book into his hand.

"There now Mrs. Potter," the wizard said in a soothing tone, "Shall I notify your hus..."

"Don't bother. He never liked my sister," she wailed.

"I doubt that is true."

"Then why isn't he here?" she asked, hurt by her husband's lack of support when she most needed it.

"He needs you at home."

"Dudley will need me," she said urgently rising from her seat on the wood bench.

"Your sister-in-law can take him in," the vicar urged as he pulled her back down.

Lily squared her shoulders, and ran the back of her hand across her nose. "No. I promised Tuney I'd take care of him."

"It's not a good..." the vicar's words faded when he saw the imposing witch storm down the corridor.

"It would be the best thing for her," Agatha Longbottom said firmly as she sat beside Lily with the grace of a granddame. She was wearing her usual green robes with a fox fur collar. A hat, with a stuffed vulture atop it, which would have done Queen Mary proud, was perched on a head of silver hair.

"There is a little child who needs her and I am taking her to him." Augusta's demeanour indicated there was no room for argument. The witch was formidable.

"Madam Longbottom, look at how you're dressed! You can't wander through a Muggle hospital dressed like that!"

Augusta's reply was to pull Lily out the double doors, and past the incredulous eyes of the hospital staff, patients, and guests.

_The cabbie is named for a very nice Yorkshire man I met years ago. He is a true gentleman._


	8. Chapter 8

_I do not own any of JK Rowling's characters, and am grateful she permits us to play with them._

_I apologize for the long delay in posting a new chapter; life in the theatre gets out of hand at times—three months of longs hours was a bit excessive._

Puzzles

Lily struggled with the emotional blow she'd endured the previous day. To keep her mind from reliving the horror, she rose early and began to clean the flat before the two boys woke. The young witch wore a pair of her sister's pink rubber gloves, and carried a small pail of water and rag to the tiled entryway. When the bell rang shrilly she opened the door without thinking.

A wild eyed Sirius Black pushed past her. Remus Lupin looked apologetically at the stunned young woman from outside the door.

"If James sent you..."

"He doesn't know we've come," Sirius said in a rush as he paced the small room restlessly.

"Why are you here?"

"To tell you how sorry we both are about your sister," Remus said sympathetically as he wrapped Lily in a tight embrace.

She inhaled his scent: dried leaves, aloe, and peppermint. Tears threatened to spill over her eyelashes.

"Do you have anyone to help you plan...?" Remus murmured tentatively.

Lily shook her head.

Black pulled back a blind to glance out at the street; his head swivelled as he scanned. He had an edgy energy that hadn't been there in earlier years.

A door slowly creaked opened. With a toothy snarl Black had his wand out and pointed at the source of the sound in an instant.

A wide-eyed Dudley reeled back at the animosity radiating from the strange man. The child's lower lip trembled just before he began to shriek in terror.

"I want Mummy," he blubbered in a high pitched entreaty.

"Damn it, Sirius!" Lily and Remus both hissed in irritation.

Lupin quickly crossed the room and easily lifted Dudley to his shoulder; he cuddled him close, sheltering him. He spoke soothingly to the little boy; with such a low rumble that Lily couldn't hear what he was saying. The crying ceased as he was carried into the kitchen in protective arms.

Black snuck the blind back again.

A furious Lily went on the offensive. "Just what do you think you're doing? You frighten a little boy that has just lost his father and mother. You come in here and behave like you're at the shoot out at the O.K. Corral. Are just stupid, or is my husband's insensitivity catching?"

Sirius looked chastened and quickly placed his wand in his jeans pocket. "I-I'm sorry. This isn't how I wanted to approach you."

Lily's nostrils flared slightly in irritation as she put her fists on her hips. She was in no mood for any nonsense from James or his friends.

"You're not safe here," Sirius blurted urgently.

"What are you going on about?"

"I can't believe I'm saying this: Dumbledore hasn't put wards on this place," Sirius said spreading his arms.

"He said he would," Lily said dumbly.

"Yeah, well he said a lot of things," the wizard mumbled.

Remus walked back into the room. "I gave Dudley some cereal, if that's okay?"

"Sure," Lily replied in distracted confusion as she continued to stare at Black. "Why would he lie?"

Lupin had obviously been following the conversation from the kitchen. He dropped wearily to a chair. "Our old headmaster seems to have a private agenda—one which we haven't been party to, though James has. And you know how much Prongs likes to brag about how much he knows. It didn't take much for Padfoot to get him to spill the proverbial beans.

"And I didn't like what I heard!" Sirius exclaimed in rising irritation.

"Just what is this private agenda?" Lily felt ice creep through her veins.

"Dumbledore and James are willing to put Harry—my Godson—at risk just so this idiotic scheme can fall into place."

"If I hadn't been in the room when they discussed it, I'd be just as sceptical as you are," an impassioned Remus replied urgently.

"I've heard about a conversation very much like you describe," the witch said thoughtfully. She bit at a cuticle while she thought.

Sirius and Remus exchanged a glance.

"Something about us being set up like lambs to slaughter," Lily muttered softly to the werewolf.

Remus and Sirius's eyes both grew large as they shared another look. Lupin put a restraining hand across his friend's chest before he said, "Who told you about that?"

Lily mentally moved jigsaw pieces of information about in her head. The growing picture was both confusing and growing clear. A crucial piece of the puzzle was missing.

_It isn't a jigsaw puzzle, it's a crossword and two words need filling in, _she nearly snorted aloud.

"Alice Longbottom."

"You haven't seen anyone else around here, have you?" Remus asked slowly. His face, more scarred than he'd been as a student, bore the look of someone hoping for a firm denial.

Lily closed her eyes and tried to envision the sights, sounds, and people of the neighbourhood over the past several days. There had been several persons who just had felt slightly out of place to her.

_There's been a sudden rash of assaults the police haven't been able to explain,_ she thought. Lily felt the blood leave her face. _Wizards—wizards sent to look for her. _

"We need to find you somewhere safe to stay," Sirius said urgently upon seeing her pale.

Lupin took a grip on Black's robe. "I think I have an idea who might just help us."

"Who?"

Remus raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"You're insane," Sirius hissed roughly pushing aside his companion's hold on him.

"No, I'm right," Remus argued. "You've never paid attention to what was really happening about you."

"Oh pray tell me what have I missed Moony?" Black rolled his eyes at his friend's ever patient attitude.


End file.
